


Building sandcastles(and other ways of falling in love)

by theactoflovinginreturn



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-14
Updated: 2015-04-14
Packaged: 2018-03-22 22:14:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3745333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theactoflovinginreturn/pseuds/theactoflovinginreturn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laura and Carmilla as childhood friends and their relathionship through the years</p>
            </blockquote>





	Building sandcastles(and other ways of falling in love)

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a long time ago but I just got the time to post it. It's one of my first fics, enjoy it!

FIVE YEARS OLD  
They met in the school's playground when they were 5. Laura was playing with some Legos when she noticed a girl around her age. Raven hair , dark eyes, even darker clothes. Laura had noticed her before. That raven-haired girl was always alone, right now she was building a sandcastle all by herself . Laura stared at her, she was beautiful and she seemed sad and lonely. Laura made a sudden decision, she stood up and approached her. The girl noticed her presence and looked up. Dark eyes meeting chocolate ones. Laura fidgeted, suddenly nervous.

“Hi...” she stuttered. There was no answer but the girl didn't look away. That was a good sign, right?Laura thought. “ I saw you all by yourself and I thought that maybe you would like some company ” Laura spoke so quickly it was almost impossible for anyone to understand her.

“I don't need company” The mysterious girl answered but somehow she looked less angry, her face with less sadness. This observation filled Laura with hope.

“ Oh, but you need help. I mean... you could build the castle perfectly by yourself...” Laura was starting to ramble as she always did when she was nervous “... but two people work faster than one. If you actually want to finish it today...”

After that there was silence. It was just a few seconds, but for Laura it felt like hours. Finally, the girl looked down and slowly nodded, almost imperceptible.

“ Okay” She said.  
Laura then proceeded to sit down beside the other girl, knees touching. What she did not notice while sitting was the girl looking down, hiding a smile. They started working together, in sync, making a perfect team. They were almost done, just finishing the last aspects of the castle when Laura decided to speak.

“ Oh, I forgot. I'm Laura” She said , a small smile playing on her lips that turned into a full one when she heard the other girl's answer.

“Carmilla”

They were in a comfortable silence now, both happily enjoying each others company. After a minute of work or so they finished the castle both looking cheerful and pleased with the results. 

“It looks beautiful, we did great” Laura said. In that moment the bell rang announcing the end of the school day. Laura ran inside to pick her backpack and coat. Carmilla was left alone in the middle of the playground, looking sad since the only girl who could be a new friend left without saying goodbye. The sadness didn't last though since a few seconds later Laura came back running and squealing excitedly.

“ It's been a fun day, Carm. We're gonna be good friends, right? I have to go now. Daddy's waiting for me” She then, wrapped her arms around Carmilla's shoulders giving her a quick hug. After that she ran out of the building, leaving Carmilla smiling, her cheeks a dark shade of pink

 

\------------------------------------------------------  
EIGHT YEARS OLD  
They were in Laura's neighbourhood, playing tag under the July sun, Laura was running, Carmilla hot on her heels. They were going fast down the road when Laura trip over a pothole and fell , getting scratches and cuts along the way. She laid there, not moving. Carmilla, scared, ran straight to her.  
“ Laura!! Are you okay??” She almost shouted , her face filled with worry, kneeling by her side, her hand automatically reaching for the other girl's. 

“ I'm fine... I just tripped... It's nothing, I'll be fine” Laura stuttered but there were tears falling down her cheeks.

“ Hey , you don't have to be strong in front of me, dummie, You can cry if you feel to. It's okay” Carmilla stared deeply, love feeling her eyes, both her hand on Laura's cheeks, wiping the tears.

“ Well let's see if you're hurt” Carmilla kept talking “Umm... interesting... Wow !!”

“ What ??” Laura asked, surprise in her voice.

“ It looks pretty bad …” answered Carmilla, smirking. She then saw Laura's worried expression and turned serious “ Nah, just kidding, it will all be fine with a kiss to each bruise. Do you mind if I do it, sweetie?”

“ Okay... please do it... If you don't mind” Laura said while looking to the ground, her cheeks turning red. Then Carmilla proceeded to kiss every scratch and bruise on Laura's body very tenderly, taking Laura's breath away. She looked and Laura and smile happily, her eyes sparkling. After that Carmilla quickly stood up and offered her hand for Laura to take. When Laura finally did, she picked her up bridal style, surprisingly Carmilla was a strong kid.

“ Carm... what are you doing, please put me down” Laura said mocking anger though she was smiling and giggling, Carmilla softly tickling her arms.

“ Not doing that, you're hurt and as I'm a gentlewoman I'm not letting you get more hurt, so I'm taking you home.”

“ By carrying me all the way to my place?” 

“ Exactly”

“ Well thank you Carm. That's so sweet of you”Laura smiled at the gesture.

“ Anything for my cupcake”

 

\------------------------------------------------------  
FOURTEEN YEARS OLD  
They're on their freshman year and Carmilla hates school, that many hormonates teenagers , not so nice. And god all that douchy fourteen year-old dudes asking her out is definitely the worst. But sometimes she wonders how would it be to have feelings for a guy, how would it be to fall in love with one, she wouldn't change how she is though, liking girls, falling in love with Laura, that's not something she regrets. Carmilla was scared though , having feeling for her probably straight bestfriend is not something she planned but her she is deeply high over heels in love with her.  
Carm was walking down the school hall, going to her locker to drop some books when she heard a familiar voice calling her, Laura's voice.

“ Carm!!” Laura shouted , approaching Carmilla excitedly. Carmilla was surprised and a little bit puzzled. Her bestfriend has always been a goofy ball of excitement but never like this.

“ Hey you, cupcake. What's going on with you? And before you tell me could you please stop jumping around, all this excitement is making me wanna barf ” Even though she was trying to be as snarky as possible she couldn't help the smile from forming at the sight of Laura's excitement.

“ You won't believe it!! Kirsch asked me out, we're going to the movies on Friday” She squealed happily. When Carmilla digest the words her face fell, sadness overtaking her.

“ But I thought you didn't like that douche” Carm said, her voice breaking.

“ C'mon Carm, don't call him that!! He's a really sweet guy!! What is going on with you, why you couldn't be happy for me?” Laura said angrily, rage showing in her features.

“ I'm happy for you , cupcake... I gotta go now, okay? I'm running late for class...” Without saying goodbye Carmilla took off, running to the closest bathroom, tears threatening to fall. She entered the bathroom and got into the closet stall. She sat and brought her knees to her chest, sobs escaping her lips. She knew that probably didn't have feelings for her, she wasn't naive, but she didn't expect this. She didn't expect Laura to date Kirsch and she certainly didn't thought that it would her that much. She cried and cried.  
And later that afternoon when Laura texted to see if Carm could help her to get ready for her date, she ignored it.

\------------------------------------------------------  
SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD  
Carmilla was at the school's parking lot, waiting for her girlfriend, Ell. She was still in love with Laura, she will always be, but she met Ell and thought she could be a distraction and it turned out she ended up growing feelings for Ell. Plus Laura was still dating Kirsch, after all this years, so sticking with Ell felt normal. She was deep in her thoughts when Ell arrived and tap her shoulders. Carmilla lift her eyes from the ground and peck Elle's lips, that's when she noticed that her girlfriend didn't seem like her normal self , she was extremely nervous. Something wasn't right.

“Babe, is everything okay?” She said worry filling her eyes. Ell looked down at the floor , avoiding Carmilla's gaze. “ Something is definitely not right. Hey...” She said softly, cupping Ell 's cheeks and lifting her head, so she could look directly at her “... Talk to me... please...”

\------------------------------------------------------  
Hours have passed since Laura had last seen Carmilla. She was talking with Ell and they seem to be having an argument. Even though Ell was a good girl and made Carm happy Laura didn't like her. She didn't know why but there was something with her that wasn't right. She always treated her like she was a naive little girl that knew nothing. Seeing them there, arguing made her hope that they actually break up. Seconds after thinking this Laura regretted this, she was a bad friend, wishing that Carm would break up with her girlfriend.  
After Carm stop talking with Ell, she vanished. Laura didn't see her in their Literature class. It was unlikely of her to skip that class, she loved it. Seeing her friend weird behaviour she decided to go to Carm's place and check on her, she was starting to get a little worry. Also, Betty was throwing a party that night and she wanted Carmilla to go with her.

\------------------------------------------------------  
Carmilla was in her bed, curled up, crying , Laura's yellow pillow (she “accidentally” stole it one time she slept at Laura's) filled with tears. She wasn't in love with Ell , she knew that, but it still hurt. She was used to Ell's company, she made her forget, about Laura, her problems with her mom, about everything. Now she was dumping her, leaving for an old boyfriend, saying that Carmilla was just a phase...  
Suddenly the door opened and Laura (they didn't knock anymore , it wasn't necessary) came in excitedly , but she paused and her face fell at the sight of Carmilla. Laura had never seen her friend like this. She approached her and knelt by the bed.

“ Carm , sweetie, what's wrong?” She took one of Carmilla's hand and held it in hers, with her free hand she brushed Carm's bangs, staring directly at her eyes.

“ Ell broke up with me...” Carmilla said between sobs “... she said I was just a phase and that she was getting back together with her old boyfriend. They've actually been dating for a couple months... I don't wanna be a phase...”

Laura felt a tear running down her cheek at the sight of Carmilla's sadness and pain. She loved Carmilla so much and she couldn't fathom how anyone could do this to her, to such a wonderful person. She didn't know how to cheer Carmilla up, so Laura did the only thing that came to her mind. She jumped on the bed and lay behind her, wrapping her arm's around Carmilla's waist and burying her face in her raven hair.

“ I'm here for you... always” Laura said before pressing herself closer to Carmilla's body. They felt asleep like that, bodies entangled.  
\------------------------------------------------------

A few hours have passed when Laura woke up to the sound of her phone. It was a text from Kirsch, asking if she was coming to the party, saying that they have barely seen each other and they should talk. Laura was searching for a proper answer to Kirsch when she heard Carmilla waking up. She smiled at her friend and continue looking down at her phone. Suddenly Carmilla's voice, deep with sleep startled her.

“ You okay? You seem like having an internal battle there. Is it Kirsch? Carmilla said, grogginess in her voice. Laura looked down at Carm and smiled.

“ Yes , it's just that I was going to a party at Betty's to see Kirsch since he wants us talk. I was actually gonna invite you... but I'm not going... you're way more important.”

“ Hey cupcake, don't do that. Don't miss the party because of me. I can handle myself pretty well. You've already done a lot for me. Kirsch is important to you and you should see him.” Carmilla knew it was the right thing to do, though she didn't want Laura to leave.

“ You're more important than Kirsch , you know that. I'm staying. We're gonna grab that cookie-dough ice cream you love and marathon all of Tim Burton's movies. Okay?”

“No , Laura. I mean... that sounds great and I know you care about me, but you should go to see Kirsch.” Carmilla sighed before continuing “ You care about Kirsch, so don't make any mistake that might cause a problem between you to. Go to the party.”

“ Okay , I'll go, but get ready cause when we get back we'll do that marathon, okay?” Laura got up , kissed Carmilla's cheek and then ran out of the room, shouting goodbye.  
Carmilla throw herself on the bed and curled up even more.  
\------------------------------------------------------  
Laura arrived to the party. They were already a lot of people in there and the music was banging really loudly. She entered the house and navigated through the amount of people, searching for Kirsch. She finally found him in the kitchen, talking to one of his Zetas' bro or whatever. When he saw Laura he stopped talking with his friend and approached her, two cups in his hands.

“ Hey Kirsch” Laura says , kissing his cheek.

“ Hey, babe. Here, take a beer, you're gonna need it. We need to talk” He looks around the house before adding “ privately”

They move into they backyard and search for a quiet spot, under a tree. Kirsch motions for Laura to  
sit down and she does so. He clears his throat.

“ Laura, babe, we've been together for about three years now and things have been working out, but... I don't think they are working out anymore” Laura was confused after hearing this. Things were working very smoothly between them.

“ What do you mean?”

“ Laura , are you in love with me anymore? Cause it certainly doesn't feel like that... I think you're in love with someone else”  
\------------------------------------------------------  
Carmilla woke up to the sound of her ringtone.( In which moment she thought that the Imperial March was good as a ringtone) She looked at her beside clock and saw that it was 3.30 am. Who could possibly call her at this time. She answered the phone without looking the caller's ID.

“ Hello?”She said, her voice raspy and deeper than usual.

“ HEYYY!!! bestie. How's my favourite person doing?” A voice was yelling at the end of the line. Laura's voice.

“ Laura. Are you okay?” She didn't sound okay at all.

“ I couldn't be fucking better. Carm, I love you so fucking much. I wanna cuddle with you to the end of the world”

“ Laura, are you drunk?” Carmilla asked, worry starting to grow at the pit of her stomach.

“ Not at all!!” Laura answered, a little to excitedly.

“ Okay, cupcake , how many drinks did you take?”

“ I don't know, don't be overwhelmed with that. Plus numbers are not fun and we're having fun” She squealed

“ Okay, Laur, baby where are you?” Carmilla said as she threw on a sweater and put some jeans on.

“ I'm still at Betty's why?”

“ Don't move. I'm coming for you” She hang up, put on her boots and left, picking the keys on the way to the door.

\------------------------------------------------------  
After the hard work of going to Betty's place, convincing a very drunk Laura to leave the party and getting her in the car without getting both oh them hurt. Carmilla drove Laura to her place. She got Laura out of the car (it wasn't an easy task either). Then she took Laura's key out of her jeans pocket, opened the door and carried her bridal style to her room. She lay Laura on the bed and then started to search for some pajamas. She found them and approached Laura. She then proceeded to undress Laura and changed her into the pj's. Laura couldn't stop giggling during the whole thing. She changed into some of Laura's pj's as well.

“ Your hands are cold” She blurted out between chuckles. Carmilla smiled down and Laura and continued with her task.

“ Okay, go brush your teeth while I go grab you a glass of water, Okay, creampuff?” Laura nodded and Carmilla left the room to get that glass.

When she came back , she found Laura curled up in the bed, sobbing. She approached the bed slowly and left the glass on the bedside table.

“ Hey, Laur, love, what's wrong?” She said softly , love palpable in her voice

“ Kirsch broke up with me” Laura sobbed again. Carmilla knelt and hugged the girl , tears soaking her chest. “ Why I'm not enough for him? Am I not worth it?”

“ Hey , hey... don't say that, anyone would be more than lucky to be with you. He is a dick for not realising that” She took Laura's chin in one of her hands and lift her face so she could look at Laura “ Plus you're more than enough for me. You will always be”  
Carmilla then kissed Laura's forehead and stood up, ready to sleep on the couch. She crossed the room and turned off the light. She was about to leave when she heard Laura calling her.

“ Carm , don't leave... I can't be alone, please stay”

Even though Carmilla knew she shouldn't do it , she couldn't left her bestfriend, her love, alone in her state. She closed the door and crossed the room , jumping on the bed. She laid down on the bed her front , facing Laura's back. Then Laura turned around and scooted closer to Carmilla, wrapping her arms around her waist, Laura's chin resting on Carmilla's neck, Carmilla feeling the salty tears in her jawline. 

“ I love you more than anything, Karnstein” Laura murmured before falling asleep.

“ I love you too, Hollis...” She whispered. She stared at Laura and brushed her hair lightly and when she was sure that Laura was asleep she added “ I'm madly, deeply in love with you”  
She then closed her eyes, her arms wrapped securely around Laura as she let sleep overtake her.  
\------------------------------------------------------  
NINETEEN YEARS OLD  
They never talked about the drunken incident. Carmilla bottled up her feelings, tried to forget about them. She started dating other girls, nothing serious, just distractions. Laura had a couple of serious relationships but it never worked. They stayed at bestfriends, their dynamic remaining the same as always. So it was logical that when they were both accepted in Silas University, a prestigious university in Austria , they both decided to share a dorm room. Everything was going smoothly for the first couple of months, Laura was a journalism mayor, which is something she's always wanted to do, Carmilla loved her even more for fighting for her dreams, if it was possible to fall in love more than she is now. Certainly it was possible, Carmilla fell a little more in love with Laura each day, but loving her hurt. It was a dull pain and she's been living with it for 11 years, so she's always looked for distractions, and that's how Carmilla discovered Plato and Nietzsche’s work. That's how she discovered the wonders of philosophy , how good it feels when you fight for knowledge, when you try to answer the hardest questions ever made... And now she's studying it here.

A couple of months into their first semester Laura started dating Danny , her Lit TA. Carmilla hated the girl, well... she didn't actually hated her , Danny was a good person and she was good for Laura, but Carmilla couldn't get along with the girl dating the love of her life. So Carmilla made sure to be specially snarky and bitchy around the tall ginger. The only ones seeing through her façade were the gingertwins (also known as her friends LaFontaine and Perry, who were pretty much married) So it didn't surprised her when after dating Danny for a month or so, Laura confronted her about her way of treating Danny.

“ Carmilla , we have to discuss something serious right now”Laura said one day after coming home from a date with Danny. Hearing the serious tone of her voice Laura left the book she was engrossed with and direct all of her attention to Laura.

“ What is it, cupcake? I'm all ears”

“ What's wrong with you?” Carmilla looked at her, confusion written all over her face. Laura kept talking “ I mean, why do you have to treat Danny so bad ? She's done nothing to deserve it”

“ I have nothing against that ginger amazon of yours , cutie” Carmilla said sarcastically, smirking, trying to hide the pain that this conversation was causing.

“Really?!Cause you're extremely snarky, rude and disrespectful when she's here and I actually wanna be able to bring my girlfriend to my room without having my bestfriend intimidating her” Laura was starting to get really pissed, Carmilla could see that. But she wasn't going to start being friendly with Danny, she couldn't.

“ Well, she wouldn't have to run out of the room if she wasn't such a coward in the first place”

“ CARMILLA KARNSTEIN!!! How dare you?!” Laura was really pissed right now, which wasn't a pleasant thing to witness “ I don't know what's wrong with you but you better treat Danny properly because she's important to me and she makes me happy”

Carmilla was tired of hiding her feelings for so long so after hearing that last sentence she couldn't contain herself anymore.

“ That's the thing Laura. I'm the one who should be making you happy, not her”

“ What ?” Laura asked in confusion.

“ God, you're always been so oblivious, you don't get it, do you? I'm in love without you, okay? I can't help it, I'm in Love with you Laur and it's been that way since we were eight” Laura was quiet, staring at Carmilla surprised written in her features, but Carmilla wasn't stopping now, not after finally saying it at loud “ I still remember the day I first realised that I was in love with you. We were playing on the street and you fell and got hurt. I went to see if you were fine , and there you were, bruises and cuts all over your body, but still beautiful. Your hair glowing with the summer sun. I took you home, picking you bridal style... I remember the first time loving you hurt me. We were fourteen and Kirsch asked you out. You were so excited and I, so devastated. I cried for hours, I was scared. And I can't forget that night, two years ago. I was brokenhearted, you came to my place and hold me for hours, your arms around my waist. It felt so good.  
My point is that I love you and I can't be nice to Danny, because she's able to love you freely and I don't...” Laura had been in silence the whole time and that was making Carmilla really anxious.

“ Look, Laura... I'm sorry for throwing this at you but I couldn't hold it anymore. If you want a new roomate it's fine I...”

Carmilla's sentence was cut when she felt soft lips on top of hers. Realization hit her, they were Laura's lips. Carmilla melt into the kiss, her mouth moving softly against Laura's. Eventually they had to break the kiss, craving for air. They fell into a comfortable silence, eyes closed, foreheads touching. After a while Laura spoke.

“ I love you too, silly” Carmilla's smile couldn't be any wider.

“ Really?”

“ Really. I've been in love with you for a long time too. I was gonna tell you, eventually, but after seeing how sad you were about Ell, I thought you didn't love me”

“ That couldn't be possible” Carmilla interrupted her “I couldn't not love you”

“ Could you stop being so soppy for a minute? I'm trying to open my heart here” Carmilla chuckled at that but nodded,

“Good. I'm in love with you, I've been for years and...” Laura started fidgeting “... I want you to be my girlfriend... if you're okay with it. If you're not it's fine. It's just...”

Carmilla cut off her cute rambling with a soft peck in her lips.

“ Of course I wanna be your girlfriend, but... what about a certain 6'1'' ginger amazon, huh?

“ Oh don't worry, I'll break up with her right now...” Laura started picking her stuff when Carmilla stopped her.

“ Nope you're not leaving after this. I have 11 years of obliviousness to make up to. Come here” She said while picking the hem of Laura's shirt, pulling the girl closer. They kissed again , more passionately this time, there were too many opportunities to make up for. Laura's hand were in Carmilla's neck and Carmilla's were in her girlfriend waist. Carmilla saw the perfect opportunity and took it, spinning Laura around the room. They ended up both breathless, holding eachother, and even though Carmilla already knew what were Laura's feelings, she couldn't resist to request hearing it one more time.

“ Say it again, please” She whispered in Laura's ear.

“ I love you. I'm madly and deeply in love with you”

Those words sounded like happiness, like home.


End file.
